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Tyler Vining will represent Bulldogs at Mat Classic

KFHS juniorfinishes fourthKettle Falls High standout Tyler Vining will represent the Bulldogs at Friday and Saturday’s Mat Classic XXIV in the Tacoma Dome.The KFHS junior will open his tournament on Friday afternoon at approximately 1 p.m. in a first round match-up with Michael Siperly of Adna. A win would draw a quarterfinal match-up Friday evening at about 7:30 p.m. against the winner of the Darrin Springs (Darrington) vs. Austin Reisdorph (Pomeroy) opener. Vining led the KFHS contingent at the 1B/2B regional at Kittitas High School last weekend with a fourth place finish.“Tyler worked very hard and came home with a berth to state,” his coach, Joe Kerns, said of the Northeast 2B standout at 195 pounds. Kettle’s lone female wrestler, Lindsey Olvera, wound up wrestling for fifth and sixth at the girl’s all-division regional at Wahluke High School on Saturday.EAST REGIONALAt Kittitas, 26 schools were represented. Warden outscored Reardan 271 to 175 to win the team race at Kittitas. Host Kittitas finished third with 139 points. Pomeroy was fourth with 120.5 points and Liberty Bell was fifth with 116.Other finishes: 6. Lake Roosevelt, 103. 7. Selkirk, 88.5. 8. Wilbur-Creston, 64. 9. Brewster, 59. 10. Northwest Christian, 54. 11. ACH, 52. 12. Springdale, 52. 13. Oroville, 46. 14. Liberty, 44. 15. Colfax and Kettle Falls, 31. 17. Lind-Ritzville, 30. 18th. Republic, 25. 19. Pateros, 24. 20. White Swan, 23.5. 21.Davenport, 18. 22. Gar-Palouse and Tri-Cities Prep, 4.Returning state champion Niko Knezovich won the East Region championship at 182 pounds to lead Reardan and its five finalists and 10 Mat Classic qualifiers at Kittitas. Area champions: Selkirk’s Justin Chartrey (106), Springdale’s Anfim Kalugin (132) and Republic’s Kyle Kirkendall (145).BULLDOGS AT KITTITAS“The competition at Kittitas was good and there were some good wrestlers left at home from many schools,” Kerns said.Kettle’s Garrett Anderson placed eighth and teammate Dan Kearney had a particularly frustrating tournament, according to his coach.“Dan had eight seconds to get behind his first opponent, but he couldn’t clear the hand that braced his knee in time to secure the takedown,” Kerns related. “I don’t think that he realized that he hadn’t secured the takedown. Time expired without him scoring and Dan dropped down to the consolation bracket.”Kearney advanced through the consolation bracket before confronting “an unfortunate situation where an official took an active part in a state qualifying match,” according to Kerns.StallingKearney was ahead in his match and was riding without being successful in turning his opponent. At that point, Kerns said the official called Kearney for stalling.“That got Dan moving, but it also allowed his opponent to get away and gain top control,” Kerns explained. “The official was signaling stalling and continued to give points to Dan’s opponent. That was difficult to understand, since the top man was riding and Dan was working to get away.“He quickly gave a point to tie the score and then another to give the opponent the lead…Dan couldn’t get away and lost the match.”Kerns said it was too late to appeal and when the KFHS assistant coach approached the official after the match to question if points were awarded to the wrong wrestler, the coach was admonished to sit down or risk a technical.Possible technical call in the offing“You do not have the right to question a judgment call,” Kerns said. “If you do are you are wrong, then it’s a technical foul on the coach. At any rate, Dan had a great season in a very tough and very competitive weight class.”Austin Anderson placed eighth at 170 pounds.Kerns thanked all this coaches for their considerable help this season.“We have had a lot of help,” Kerns said, adding that I’d particularly like to thank Steve Kenney and Travis Bolt, our unpaid assistant coaches.”